Extended Hierarchy-Of-Effect Model and Its Application on Islamic Reality Shows Towards Malay Community in Malaysia
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Extended Hierarchy-of-Effect Model and its Application on Islamic Reality Shows towards Malay Community in Malaysia Assoc. Prof. Dr. Saodah Wok Department of Communication, KIRKHS, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Jalan Gombak 53100, Kuala Lumpur Email: [email protected] Dr. Rizalawati Ismail Department of Communication, KIRKHS, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Jalan Gombak 53100, Kuala Lumpur Email: [email protected] Zakirah Azman Department of Communication, KIRKHS, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Jalan Gombak 53100, Kuala Lumpur Email: [email protected] Siti Sakinah Latif Department of Communication, KIRKHS, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Jalan Gombak 53100, Kuala Lumpur Email: [email protected] Abstract This paper tries to explore the possibility of applying the Hierarchy-of-Effect-Model (Zajonc, 1980) on Islamic reality shows towards Malay community in Malaysia, which is a new phenomenon, compared to the other existing reality shows that are mushrooming. The objectives of the study are (1) To find out the level of attention given to, perception of, attitude towards, involvement in, satisfaction obtained, and impact change from watching Islamic reality shows; (2) To compare the level of effects on different types of viewers (gender and age-group); and (3) To analyze the relationships between all the effect-related variables for the Islamic reality shows towards the Malay community in Malaysia. This study employs a quantitative research design, using survey method, with questionnaire as the research instrument used for data collection. Pilot study has been conducted to pre-test the research instrument. The study is using cluster and stratified random sample, in which the stratified groups are based on state, gender, and age. The data were collected in March 2012. The study found that the two most popular Islamic reality shows are Imam Muda and Akademi Al-Quran. The Malay community has positive perception 1 and attitude towards the Islamic reality shows. They are also satisfied with the programs and above all the programs have positive impact on them. Therefore, the hierarchy of effects model could be applied to the Islamic reality shows for the Malay community in Malaysia; thus, implying that the learning theory is supported, but with a cyclical open system in nature. Keywords: Extended Hierarchy-of-Effect Model, Islamic reality shows, Malay community, Malaysia, Islamic impact change Introduction Religion is part and parcel of television programming these days with a number of religious programs broadcasted on different channels. With the introduction of religious channels in Malaysia (TV9, Astro Oasis and Al-Hijrah), the tendency for an increase in the number of religious programs is inevitable. A number of Islamic religious reality shows has already started to gather its own followers of devoted fans such as Imam Muda (already into its third season), Solehah, Ustazah Pilihan, Akademi Nasyid and Adik-Adikku. In terms of content, the religious reality shows include religious knowledge about Islamic figures and places, Quranic verses and hadith are presented to the audience. In early 2010, the broadcast of Imam Muda’s first session on the Islamic lifestyle channel Astro Oasis managed to attract many headlines, both locally and internationally (Yoong, 2010; Hartenstein, 2010). The reality television program that uses the religion of Islam as the backbone of the program had fascinated many. The reality show originally targeted the teenagers but was reported to pull attention from the adults and elderly viewers (Zalida & Mariah, 2011) Due to its overwhelming response, Imam Muda began its second season in 2011, which also proved to be a success. In 2012, Imam Muda started its third season. With a successful formula in hand, Astro Oasis branched out with a new religious reality program, only this time the spotlight belongs to the women. On October 1, 2011, Ustazah Pilihan was aired on Astro Oasis. Concurrently, a newly established Islamic-lifestyle television channel, Al-Hijrah also came out with a similar religious reality competition called Solehah, which is also featuring an all female-participants. Besides religious reality TV shows on the two Islamic channels, other channels such as RTM1 offers program such as Adik-Adikku, while TV9 offers Akademi Nasyid and Akademi Al-Quran. 2 It is important to note that religious television programming also consist popular secular programming genre, including talk shows, game shows, children shows, soap operas, news/magazine shows, sports programming music/variety shows as well as reality television (Abelman, 1987; Zalida & Mariah, 2011). Religious talk shows have also occupied space in television scheduling in Malaysia, with programs such as Forum Perdana Ehwal Islam (TV1), Al-Kuliyyah (TV3) and Halaqah (TV9) and this is credited to the concept of Islam Hadhari (Civilisational Islam) introduced in 2003 by the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato‟ Seri Abdullah Hj. Ahmad Badawi (Juliana, 2011). Religious television users are more towards the implicit impact such as the need to know self through various aspects such as mentally or spiritually (Zalida & Mariah, 2011). Thus, it can be said that the audience seeks/watches religious programming to gratify their needs. Zalida and Mariah (2011) also discovered that viewers admitted that they watch religious program as substitute for not attending any sermons. According to Zulkiple (2001), Islamic programs‟ objective should include strengthening Islamic belief, spreading Islamic thinking, reinforcing Islamic cultures, forming public opinions and serving as a watchdog towards negatives values that affect the development of the societies (cited in Musa et.al., 2010). In view of religious programs from an Islamic perspective, it should have a „mission‟ to encourage followers to spread and preach (dakwah) people about Islam through various means of the mass media such as radio, TV, magazines, video, fax and the internet (Musa et.al, 2010). What these reality shows is trying to achieve by using Islam as the platform for competition is to utilize elements of popular culture to tackle the religious concerns of Muslim in a fresh and relevant manner especially to the younger generation. The objectives of the study are (1) To find out the level of attention given to, perception of, attitude towards, involvement in, satisfaction obtained, and impact change from watching Islamic reality shows; (2) To compare the level of effects on different types of viewers (gender and age-group); and (3) To analyze the relationships between all the effect-related variables of the Islamic reality shows towards the Malay community in Malaysia. 3 Literature Review Hierarchy of Effects Theory Hierarchy of Effects Theory (Rice and Atkin, 1989) is taken for the study, basing the assumption on the learning theory where the knowledge (perception), attitude and behavior sequence is taken into consideration. Since Islamic reality show is in a way a persuasion effect, taking time and differential effect for that matter, therefore, it is appropriate to apply such theory for the study. The step-by-step sequence is being considered whereby the initial step of awareness, attention, attitude, involvement, satisfaction, and finally the impact effect on the individual who had watched the program. The decision-making process makes the viewer to continue and to get activated especially in terms of their Islamic practices, resulting from the learning process that has been taken place initially. The promotion, that is, the effort given by the respective TV station for its Islamic reality program, creates the awareness, then cultivates the interest on the viewers to seek for further information, which in turn reinforces the learning of the existing information and knowledge; thus, making them to ponder and to think for the right decision in order to be a better Muslim. The learning process is considered a cyclical process, not merely a linear model. This is because at every learning process new things are learned while the existing knowledge is being reinforced. The overall conceptual framework is presented in Figure 1. 4 Attention Impact Perception Attitude Satisfaction Involvement Figure 1: Hierarchical cyclic process of Islamic reality show Since this research focuses on religious reality TV shows, it is expected that viewers are motivated to watch due to its educational content as the religious shows have been determined to be informational in nature (Abelman, 1985; Zalida & Mariah, 2011). Malaysian Reality TV Shows In Malaysia, reality TV became a phenomenon with the introduction of Survivor1 – the most popular American reality TV show in year 2000. This led to the introduction of Malaysian first 1Survivor is a reality television game show programme where teams compete with each other for cash and other prizes in different exotic locales such as Guatemala and Borneo Island. Retrieved on 6 June 2012 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor_%28TV_series%29 5 reality TV game show programme – Explorace by TV3 in 2003 and it became so popular (Juliana, 2010). With the success of Explorace, the other Malaysian broadcast channels started to show and to produce more reality television programmes with different format (other than game show) such as singing talent (Akademi Fantasia, Mentor, and One in a Million), documentary (Bersamamu, Misi Suara Hati), love and relationship (Mencari Cinta, Mencari